
For more news visit ☛ english.ntdtv.com or Follow us on Twitter ☛ http NTD Ukraine has met a Japanese musician with a difference: Charlie Shuichi Sakuma just loves Ukrainian culture. He dances the gopak, plays the bandura, and sings Ukrainian songs. He even promotes Ulrainian culture abroad. Here's more. Cossack forelock, embroidered shirt and a sincere melody on the kobza -- this is a real Ukrainian bandura player. Except just one thing - he is Japanese. Charlie Shuichi Sakuma was born in the land of the rising sun, and lives in Canada. But after falling in love with Ukrainian culture 10 years ago, he gained a third native land. [Charlie Sakuma, Bandura Player]: "Generally, in Japan people have heard about Ukrainian gopak dance, but often they know little more than the name itself. When I came to Canada, I saw a gopak on stage for the first time. It just turned around everything in me. I could not tear my eyes away from the scene and thought that I must try it." Now he dances the gopak (or Cossack Dance), plays a bandura and even sings Ukrainian songs. Learning a Ukrainian folk instrument was not easy for the 43-year-old electrician. [Charlie Sakuma, Bandura Player]: "Firstly, when I started to play the Bandura, it was very tough: there were very few books, no teachers, and no opportunity to perform. And with all my experience and love for the bandura, I can tell you, it is one of the most difficult instruments in the world." Sakuma, or as he calls himself in the <b>...</b>
NTD
Japan
Musician
Traditional Ukrainian Culture
Charlie Shuichi Sakuma
Ukraine
kobza
Lviv